Patients suffer as doctors go on strike against 6th pay panel in Ludhiana

Manav Mander
Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, June 25

Doctors went on a strike against the Sixth Pay Commission today. Under the banner of the Joint Punjab Government Doctors Coordination Committee, all the Out Patient Departments, In Patient Departments, elective surgeries, work related to the Unique Disability Identification and Ayushman Bharat Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana were closed at Civil Hospital.

Doctors are protesting against the delinking of the Non-Practicing Allowance (NPA) from the basic pay, applicable to all doctors be it allopathic, rural medical officers, ayurvedic, homeopathic or veterinarians.

Various associations, led by Dr Avinash Jindal and Dr Rohit of the Punjab Civil Medical Services Association, Dr Balwinder of the Punjab Homeopathic Association, Dr Raman of the Punjab Ayurvedic Association, Dr Rimple of the Dental Association and Dr Vikrant of the Rural Medical Officers Associations, along with other doctors held a protest at Civil Hospital against the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission. Members of the Punjab State Veterinary Officers Association also held a protest in this regard at Polyclinic on Gill Road.

It was decided by the association that all the work related to disability certificate and the Ayushman scheme will remain suspended till further notice.

Dr Rohit Rampal of the PCMSA said while the doctors were busy serving amidst the pandemic, the Sixth Pay Commission came as a cruel joke to them. Doctors have slammed the state government for delinking the Non-Practicing Allowance (NPA) from the basic pay.

Dr JP Narula, state president of the Rural Medical Services Association, said what to expect any allowance or bonus from the government for working selflessly amidst the pandemic, when it has instead reduced the salaries.

“Initially the NPA at 25 per cent was the part of pay for the calculation of all allowances, now with the implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission the NPA has been delinked from pay and reduced to 20 per cent, which means it has been fixed now and no other allowances will be calculated on the NPA. It will remarkably effect the net salary of all the government doctors be it allopathic, ayurvedic, homeopathic or veterinary,” added Dr Rohit Sharma, joint secretary, RMSA, Punjab.

Dr Narula said Rural Medical Officers have already been given stepmotherly treatment by the state government and the Sixth Pay Commission has only added to their woes. The RMOs are getting 20 per cent less salary as compared to their urban counterparts as their Dynamic Assured Career Progression cadre is still pending.

Dr Darshan Kheri, general secretary of the Punjab State Veterinary Officers Association, said instead of giving new facilities, the government is cutting down on the already paid allowances. “We have given our services 24x7 amidst the pandemic and this is how the government is rewarding us,” he said.

Patients feel the heat

While the doctors were on strike, it was patients who suffered. OPD patients went without consultation, while the in-house patients kept on waiting for the doctors.

Sushma Devi, who came from Salem Tabri to see a doctor at Civil Hospital, was left high and dry. “First I went to ESI Hospital as earlier the OPD of Civil Hospital was run from there. After reaching there I came to know that OPD has been shifted back and when I reached here the doctors were on strike. I took one day off from my work to see the doctor and it was wasted in only travelling from one place to another. I cannot take leave tomorrow so now I will be coming next week,” she said.

Family of a patient who was admitted to the hospital said they kept on waiting for the doctor the whole day and nobody visited the ward today. “The doctor was to prescribe some new medicines and injections today but nobody turned up,” said a family member.

Another patient Gulab Kaur, who had come to see her gynaecologist, said she reached the hospital at 8 am hoping to see the doctor on time but upon reaching she came to know that doctors were on strike today and left with no other option she had to return.